


Legacy

by gracedameron



Series: Legacy Series [1]
Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Alien Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Disabled Character, Character Study, Depression, Disabled Character, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established/Mentioned Kanera, Ezra is adorable, F/F, F/M, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Loss, Family Member Death, Father-Daughter Relationship, Found Family, Gen, Grandpa Kanan, Hurt/Comfort, I'm so sorry about all of this, Kallus/Zeb in later chapters, Kanan's so sad, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Original Character Death(s), Recovery, Sabine gets a girlfriend, Sabine has a family, Sabine is amazing, Space family, i must be stopped, long timeline, someone help this sad man
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-07
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-09-21 12:46:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9549821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gracedameron/pseuds/gracedameron
Summary: Kanan suddenly understood. All at once, with a tidal wave of understanding, Kanan knew why the Jedi weren’t allowed to have attachments. This. This right here. This was why.





	1. Attachments

**Author's Note:**

> this story is dedicated to my ideas bae and evil co-author Lynn. you know what you've done.  
> sorry about this everyone. please, do yell at me. This is a whole meta universe, I've got WAY more planned.

Kanan suddenly understood. All at once, with a tidal wave of understanding, Kanan knew why the Jedi weren’t allowed to have attachments. _This_. This right here. This was why.

  
He felt her die. He wasn’t even _there_ and he felt her life-force extinguish, and subsequently felt his entire world explode around him. He felt his life lose it’s purpose. He felt his heart break in two, and felt the terrifying numbness that came with half of him being torn away. For the first time, he felt _truly_ blind, stumbling in darkness and pain, unable to see a way out.

Kanan felt his heart ache as he dropped yet another bottle onto the floor and listened as it rolled on the durasteel, clinking into other bottles on the way. He refused to leave his room, no matter how the kids might beg him. He refused to be sober either, and remembered why he was such a drunk in his younger years.

Jedi felt pain intensified. When something tragic happened to a Jedi, they were trained to deal with it in a healthy manner, channeling the energy and protecting themselves from further harm. But when that didn’t work, the pain become downright _unbearable_. Because Kanan didn’t only feel his own pain, he felt Ezra’s pain. And Sabine’s pain. And Zeb’s pain. He felt everyone else’s feelings, as well as his own, in tenfold. And it was too much. It was too much to handle when he watched his Jedi Master die. It was too much to handle living his entire young adult life on the run. It was too much to handle now. Now that Hera was gone.

The Ghost no longer felt like home. Kanan hated every moment that he spent alive in a world where Hera was not. He was angry, depressed, and pitiful, and he knew how much Hera would hate him for reacting this way. But he loved her. She genuinely was his other half; his entire world.

The Rebellion begged him, pleaded, insisted, that he be the one to carry on her legacy, to continue fighting, to continue rallying others to their cause. The last briefing Kanan attended they’d mentioned something about a super-weapon, but he’d left before the meeting was even finished, his headache throbbing and stomach aching. It was that night that Sabine approached him on behalf of the rest of the family. She’d suggested they go back to doing what they’d done when they first started out.

Smuggling, trading, doing odd-jobs and sticking it to the Empire when they could. Helping people.

“It’s what Hera would’ve wanted,” Sabine had said, in hopes of convincing Kanan to go along with it.

 _No it’s not_ , Kanan wanted to tell her. _Hera would hate that we’re giving up. She’d have my head for letting it get to this point. She’d have yours too, Bean. This is not what Hera would’ve wanted._

“Fine.” he’d told Sabine, “The Ghost is yours now. You can do whatever you want with her.”

“You’re coming with us.” Sabine insisted, “I’m not leaving you behind, Kanan.”

“Bean…”

“Kanan, no. I don’t care if you’re a sad drunk, you can be a sad drunk in our home, with your family. I’m not leaving you.”

Kanan’s sightless eyes watered, and he nodded, and Sabine uncrossed her arms, putting her hands on his shoulders.

“Good. We leave at dawn.”

So they did. They left the Rebellion, they left Hera’s legacy, and resumed their daytime vigilante work. Sabine set out to even out some scores with old bounties on their heads, and they helped smaller rebel cells find their way to the Rebellion itself. They were like roving agents, travelling the galaxy to serve justice.  
Along the way, they found how to make it work again. Kanan didn’t. But the kids did. Zeb did. Sabine did. Even Ezra did. Ezra made it his mission to help Kanan as much as possible, he tried to be the best student and best family member he could. But it was hard. Hera was the glue that held the family together, and without her, they struggled. Ezra had felt it immediately when Hera died. Not because of his Force bond with her, despite how strong it was, but because of his bond with Kanan. He felt Kanan’s anguish, and he couldn’t even begin to describe the amount of pain Kanan was in. Ezra sincerely had to check that he wasn’t physically injured when he felt the pain that Kanan felt, because it was so intense.

“Please Kanan,” Ezra begged, for the billionth time since Hera’s death, “Please. Practice with me. I’m getting rusty, and I know you are too.”

Kanan didn’t even answer him, and even with the mask of numbness provided by alcohol, Kanan could feel Ezra’s desperation and frustration.

“Fine.” Ezra said, throwing his lightsaber hilt onto Kanan’s floor. “You quit, I quit.”

Kanan shook his head sadly, picking Ezra’s lightsaber up and running his calloused hands over it. He sighed, lifting his own lightsaber from the drawer under his bunk. He hadn’t touched it since Hera’s death, and he still didn’t want to. Ezra had insisted that he train with him, but Kanan would be lying if he said that he was in a place where he could be a successful teacher. It wasn’t easy to carry on in life when there was no reason to keep going.

“Ezra, wait.” Kanan called back, and Ezra hesitated before hurrying back to Kanan’s room. He squinted through the dark, rolling his eyes before flicking on the lights, remembering that Kanan wouldn’t notice anyway.

“What?” Ezra asked, disappointment still clear in his tone.

Kanan handed Ezra his lightsaber back, holding his own weapon in his free hand. He hesitated before stretching his weapon out to Ezra too.

“Don’t quit, Ezra.” he said softly. “I might be done, but the galaxy still needs you.”

Ezra was speechless for a moment, before pushing Kanan’s hand away.

“Kanan, no.” he said softly, his voice cracking a little. “Don’t…”

“Ezra, I can’t be a Jedi anymore,” he insisted. “That isn’t my path. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be yours.”

Ezra blinked, feeling tears fill his eyes.

“I don’t want to do it alone,” He said, his voice choked.

“The Force flows through all things,” Kanan recited, and Ezra grunted.

“I don’t want to do it without _you_.” he amended, shoving Kanan’s shoulder a little harder than he meant to. “You’re abandoning me.”

“I’m not abandoning you, Ezra.” Kanan insisted. “I won’t be any help to you. Your path lies differently from mine.”

“It doesn’t have to, Kanan. We can figure it out.” Ezra pleaded, and Kanan frowned.

“I’m sorry, Ezra.”

Ezra felt himself getting angry, emotion building in his chest.

“Hera would hate you like this,” he spat, “If you aren’t going to do anything for me, or for Sabine, do something for her. She’d kill you for acting like this and you know it.” With that, Ezra spun and stormed out of Kanan’s room.

Kanan knew he was right. Of course he was. He knew that if it were him who died, Hera would continue living and fighting, probably burying her feelings and refusing to show any weakness, regardless of how she actually felt. She’d never give up, she’d never become a drunk, and she’d never let the rest of her family think that she didn’t care about them, or their cause. Hera would definitely be angry with Kanan for acting this way. For letting Ezra down. For expecting Sabine to just take command and leaving her to do it all by herself. For letting himself go. For letting his emotions rule him. She’d _hate him_.

Kanan leaned his head back, letting it hit the wall behind him hard.

“I’m so sorry, Hera,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”

 _“You need to pull it together, Luv.”_ Kanan heard Hera’s calm but serious tone in his head. _“Those kids need you.”_

Kanan felt his head throb at even the _thought_ of standing up, but he didn’t really care. He knew Ezra was right, and he knew that being so lethargic and sad was only going to make it harder for the kids to move on. He hated letting Ezra down like this. He hated how sad Sabine was. Ezra had mentioned that she hadn’t painted in months. She commanded all the missions, between arguing about it with Ezra. She’d stepped up in ways that Kanan couldn’t even express his pride for, but he knew that the only reason she did, was because he _wouldn’t_. And that was how Sabine honored Hera’s legacy. By carrying on. By leading. By taking care of Kanan.

The following afternoon, Zeb was the one who tried to get through to Kanan, and for some reason, he was the one who _could_. Zeb didn’t say much at first, just sat next to Kanan on his bunk, looking him over sadly.

“For someone who sleeps so much, you look terrible.” Zeb told him, and Kanan almost laughed. Almost.

“You think I’m sleeping?” Kanan muttered, his tone much flatter than he intended it to be.

“Well, what else would you be doing, holed up in your room and ignoring your family?” Zeb countered, and Kanan grunted in response.

“Honestly, Kanan. If you think any of us are doing well, you’re a bigger fool than I thought.” Zeb told him after a second of pause. “We’re all hurting. But they need you. I need you.”

Kanan frowned, turning to face Zeb. “I’m sorry,” Kanan said quietly.

“It’s been nearly a month,” Zeb said carefully. “And this isn’t me saying to get over it, because none of us _ever_ will. This is me saying you need to start trying again.”

“Zeb…” Kanan shook his head. “I can’t…”

“They’re just kids, Kanan.” Zeb snapped, “They’re kids who have already lost so much, but losing both mentors in a month is going to spell disaster for them. I can handle loss. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again. But Ezra’s stopped eating. Sabine’s stopped painting. Karabast, even Chopper’s shut down. They _need you_ to figure out how to heal and keep living.”

Kanan hesitated, pressing the palm of his hand against his face, wiping at his eyes, almost surprised to find that he had any tears left to cry. He sniffed.

“I don’t even know how to keep living,” Kanan whispered, “How the hell am I supposed to show them?”

Zeb huffed a sigh. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Honestly, I think leaving your room would be a good start.”

That evening, Kanan joined his family when Ezra made dinner for them. He was glad that no one really commented on it, though he could practically feel Zeb’s pride in him. There weren’t any petty arguments, and barely any small talk, but it was a start. Ezra was still clearly frustrated with him, but he didn’t say anything. Actually, if he was being honest with himself, Ezra was thrilled that Kanan came out of his room for once.

Sabine insisted that he join her as she ran diagnostics for the ship before bed, after Zeb and Ezra worked together in peace for once to clean the galley, and Kanan agreed, even though he felt he didn’t really have a choice.

“Ezra shouldn’t have said those things to you the other day,” Sabine said, as Kanan sat in his usual co-pilot’s chair, Sabine fixing some loose wires under the dash. “That’s not fair.”

“No,” Kanan said, “It’s completely fair. He’s right. H…” He shook his head a little, still unable to say Hera’s name out loud without feeling like his heart was being ripped from his chest. “She would be furious with me. Ezra has a point. I need to start acting like she would want me to.”

Sabine smiled a little under the dash. She kicked Kanan’s boot with hers.

“Good.” she said, and Kanan could practically hear the smile in her voice. “I’ve missed you.”

Kanan nodded. “I’ve missed you too.” he said. “I’m so sorry, Sabine.”

“No,” Sabine said as she stood, brushing her hands on her pants. “Don’t apologize. You have every right to feel the way you do.”

“But I don’t have the right to let everything else slip through the cracks,” Kanan insisted. “I’m _sorry_ , Bean. I’m sorry you’re dealing with it all alone. I’m sorry I left.”

Sabine felt her chest tighten and tears immediately filled her eyes. She hadn’t dealt with anything, she avoided it, she worked hard, she made sure that everyone else stayed sane, but she didn’t take care of herself. And Kanan could tell.

“It’s okay,” she said quietly, her voice cracking. Kanan shook his head and pulled her into his arms into an embrace, which she returned.

They stayed like that for a minute before the tears that threatened in the back of Sabine’s eyes broke free and dripped down her cheeks, staining Kanan’s shirt.

“I’m here now,” Kanan told her.

Sabine squeezed him tight, ignoring the fact that Kanan hadn’t showered in days, and wreaked of alcohol. His embrace was warm and comforting, and despite the heaviness on his heart, he was trying again.

“Thank you,” Sabine whispered. She didn’t let him go, and he didn’t want her to.

Things got better.

Kanan started drinking less and less. He started working with Ezra to help him process his grief. Ezra learned quickly, as he always had, and soon started being the one to teach Kanan. Kanan forced himself to be open to the lessons his children gave him, and despite how deep his depression ran, he learned how to live again.  
They ran missions, like in the good old days. They changed their call-signs, out of respect for Hera. It was a unanimous unspoken understanding, and they decided to use “ _Starbirds_ ” instead, since Sabine’s symbol of hope still reigned true.

They’d made some new friends and allies. Ironically, continued a healthy working relationship with Hondo Ohnaka and his crew of pirates, and even teamed up with Lando Calrissian and some of his allies a few times while working smuggling runs. As per usual, the crew was caught up in adventures and drama that they most of the time did not ask for. The Rebellion at large was doing good across the galaxy, destroying Death Stars, outrunning the Empire, striking them where they hurt most. Kanan, Sabine, Ezra, and Zeb did more vigilante work. They stole from the rich, gave to the poor, relocated refugees, and donated to causes that needed help. It wasn’t always easy, and at many times, they were extremely broke, but they were doing good. And for the most part, they were happy. Or as happy as they could be.

 


	2. Leena

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Leena Taraji, the newest edition to the Ghost Crew.

*

They’d added new faces to their broken crew. Sabine befriended a vigilante ex-mercenary to their crew after a rather dicey mission they’d ran for a smuggling group, when they were delivering supplies to the civilians of an Imperial controlled world. It was soon after that Leena Taraji started travelling with them. 

Leena was around Sabine’s age, and just as volatile and driven. Like Sabine, Leena grew up in a world that was at war. She was born on Ryloth, the same world that Hera had been from. She left the planet with her parents to get away from the war, but the threat of the Empire loomed, and her parents were “recruited” to work in the Empire’s factory on Geonosis, her father later killed from being overworked, and her mother locked up in an Imperial prison for speaking out against the harsh work conditions. Leena was left on her own at the age of 14, and soon learned that it was hard to survive alone in the galaxy, so she learned after her parents and taught herself how to survive. 

When the Ghost crew met up with Leena, she had intercepted them on a supply run through the Outer Rim, and Sabine and Ezra quickly taught Leena about what it meant to protect civilians, and how sometimes (all the time) it was more important to do that than to stick it to the Empire. Leena’s eyes were quickly opened when Sabine forced her to join them on their supply drop, and she wasn’t surprised but still disheartened by all the other people that were hurting under the Empire’s grip. They’d taught her what they’d learned over the years, that by annoying the Empire, it only causes them to tighten the grip on their civilians, and more people get hurt. Sabine, Ezra, Zeb and Kanan were tired of people getting hurt. Tired of getting hurt themselves. 

After Leena saw the Imperial citizens in refugee camps she realized that just because the world was Imperial controlled didn’t mean that the people on it were Imperials. It caused her to think outside herself for the first time since she’d lost her parents, and upon realizing that she truly had nowhere to go, Leena almost started to despair. She was stubborn though, and tried to refuse when Kanan insisted she join them on The Ghost, at least until she came up with a plan. 

She and Sabine spent the first few weeks together on the Ghost arguing about how Sabine was running her ship before they started to forge a real friendship. Sabine was infuriated by the complicated, headstrong, pretty, Twi-Lek that seemed dead set on challenging her every opinion, thought and order. This was her ship, and dammit, Leena wasn’t the one giving orders. 

*  
Sabine bristled when she walked into the cockpit to see Leena sitting in the pilot’s seat looking out the viewport, her boots propped up on the dashboard. 

“Get your feet off.” Sabine snapped, reaching out to snatch Leena’s boots off the Ghost’s dash, but Leena caught Sabine’s wrist before she could. Sabine glared at her, twisting out of her grip. 

“Protective, much?” Leena rolled her eyes, spinning in the pilot’s seat, leaning back, making it creak. She noticed Sabine’s frown and looked a little confused. “What is it with you and this ship?” Leena asked, “It’s just a ship.” 

“It’s my home.” Sabine said simply. “It means a lot to me, and to everyone on it. And if you’re not going to respect that, you can leave.” 

Leena smirked. “I don’t know why Kanan’s so set on me staying, I told you I’d be just fine on my own.” 

Sabine sighed. She didn’t really know why Kanan was so set on it either. Sure, Leena didn’t have anywhere to go, and they’d stopped her from committing a mass terrorist attack on an innocent system just to stick it to the Empire, but they should’ve just dropped her off on a different system. She didn’t respect the Ghost or their family. 

“You have to earn her trust, Bean.” Kanan had told her, “It took you a while to warm up to us too.” 

Sabine scowled. “Listen,” she said tersely, “I don’t care if you stick around, but I just want you to respect my ship.” she shoved the pilot’s seat forward with her boot so it wasn’t leaning back on it’s hinges and Leena rolled her eyes. 

“How old is this thing anyway?” Leena asked. “It looks like it’s been around since the beginning of time.” 

Sabine put a hand gently on the worn dash, smiling a little to herself. 

“She’s been around a while,” she admitted. “I’ve been here since I was thirteen. But Kanan’s been here way longer than I have.” 

“So she’s not even your ship?” Leena laughed a little. “You’re a freeloader?” 

Sabine glared at her. “No. We’re a team. We each pull our own weight. And if you want to stay,” Sabine shoved her boot at the pilot chair’s base so Leena couldn’t lean back again. “You have to pull your weight too.” 

Leena stood, meeting Sabine’s eyes almost challengingly. Sabine looked over her. Leena wore one of Sabine’s old shirts with a worn out leather jacket that had clearly seen some battles over it. Her lilac lekku rested over her shoulders, the deeper purple tattoos matching the dark purple in her eyes. At full height, Leena was a few inches taller than Sabine, which made Sabine stand up a little straighter.

“Who’s Hera?” Leena asked suddenly, and Sabine visibly flinched. 

“What?” Sabine asked, and Leena noticed her surprise instantly. 

“Oh, so she was important.” Leena raised her eyebrows. She pointed to the dash of the Ghost, right next to the wall of the cockpit the name “Hera” was etched in aurebesh. Sabine remembered that. She’d been the one to scratch it on, which Hera initially yelled at her for, but didn’t sand away or repair. 

“The Ghost was her ship,” Sabine said casually, throwing her emotional shields up quickly. “Before it was mine.” 

“Interesting.” Leena looked around the cockpit and smirked. “Kanan moved into her room,” Leena mentioned, “When I joined the crew. Right?” 

Sabine nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Were they married?” Leena asked next, and Sabine noticed that the mocking hostility that trademarked Leena’s typical tone disappeared. 

Sabine didn’t let her feelings betray her expression. “More or less.” 

“You aren’t good at having conversations,” Leena observed, “I’m just asking questions.” 

Sabine sighed after a moment. “Sorry,” she amended. “Yes, they were. She practically raised me.” 

“What ha...” Leena shook her head, changing her mind. “I get it.” she decided, not wanting to pry into something that clearly bothered Sabine so much. She knew what it was like to lose people, and Leena didn’t want to reopen old wounds. 

“She’s been gone two years,” Sabine said after a long pause of silence. “None of us...we haven’t been the same since.” 

“I understand.” Leena said, her voice surprisingly soft. “I’m sorry.” 

Sabine nodded in gratitude and the silence that filled the cockpit around them was heavy. It was interrupted by Ezra’s voice filling the inter-comm. 

“You have like...three and a half minutes before Zeb eats everything I made for dinner.” he said, and Sabine smirked. 

“Come on,” she told Leena, “Let’s go.” 

Leena followed Sabine from the cockpit, glancing behind her at the worn seats, dents and dings, paint, stickers and designs and everything that made the Ghost a home. She’d seen it all over. It wasn’t just a ship. It was a home. And Leena hadn’t had a home in a really long time. She felt an ache that she hadn’t felt in a really, really long time, an ache for something more. Not revenge. Happiness. 

*

“You’re a Jedi??” Leena shouted as she struggled back to her feet, and Ezra rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah, but can we discuss it later? We’re kind of in the middle of something!” Ezra used his lightsaber to deflect blaster bolts back and forth, his back to Leena’s.   
She grabbed at her throbbing shoulder, groaning to find her hand bloody. She ignored it and held her blaster out, shooting at the stormtroopers who continued to run from the other side of the hangar bay toward their position. 

“Sabine!” he shouted into his comm-unit. “We could really use a pick up right about now!” 

“I’m a little busy,” Sabine shouted back, “Figure it out, Star Six!!.” 

Leena squeezed her hand over her wound as she followed Ezra as he ran toward the troopers, using the Force (Leena assumed, since she didn’t know much about Jedi stuff other than the stories her parents used to tell her about the Republic) to knock a few stormtroopers into the wall behind them, and clearing enough of a path for them to get through. 

“You people don’t tell me anything!” Leena yelled, and Ezra laughed. 

“You’re on a need-to-know basis, newbie.” he told her, turning his lightsaber off as they turned the corner into an empty corridor. 

Leena shoved his shoulder with her free hand, hard. “If you want my help on things like this, I need to know.” 

Ezra grinned at her. “You’ll get there.” he told her. He turned as he heard blaster bolts behind him and sighed. “You okay?” he looked at her shoulder, and Leena hated the worried look that came over his expression when he saw that she was bleeding. 

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Don’t give me that look, Bridger.” 

Ezra frowned. “Kanan,” he said into his comm, “We got cornered on the other side of the hangar bay. It’s crawling with troops. They didn’t like the stunt that we pulled earlier on their walker.” 

“Yeah, well, I didn’t like their walker,” Kanan’s sarcastic voice came over the comm. “We’ll come to you, Six. We’re finishing up out here.” 

Ezra’s eyes narrowed. “It doesn’t sound like you’re finished,” He mentioned, hearing the blasts and gunfire on the Ghost from over the comm. “Do you need our help?” 

“I think we can handle ourselves,” Kanan said snidely, “In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve done this only a thousand times before.”

“Where’s Zeb?” Ezra asked next, wincing at the blast sounds coming through the comm.

“We’ll grab him too. Just be ready for pick-up,” Sabine snapped, “Ghost out.”

Ezra looked to Leena and grinned. “Alright, let’s get ready for pick-up.” 

“Hang on,” Leena said, confused. “Is Kanan a Jedi too? Is that why he can shoot even though he’s…” she made a face and Ezra almost laughed. 

“Blind? Yeah. Who do you think taught me everything? The Jedi are kind of extinct.” 

Leena shook her head. “I’m really not loving the secrecy thing,” she said with annoyance. “Aren’t we supposed to be a team?” 

Ezra shrugged. “Like I said, need-to-know basis.” 

Leena rolled her eyes. “Fine,” she snapped, letting her shoulder go and wiping her bloody hand on her pants before refilling her blaster with a fresh cartridge. “You ready?” 

Ezra held up his saber. “Always.” 

As they snuck back out of the hallway, trying to get past the hangar bay to a place where Sabine and Kanan could get them in the Ghost, Leena turned to Ezra again. 

“We’ve been in firefights before, and you fought with a blaster,” she whispered, and Ezra shrugged. 

“I’ve been keeping a low profile,” he said, “Kanan isn’t big on the whole Jedi thing anymore.” 

“So why did you use that sword-”

“Lightsaber,” Ezra corrected, cutting in, and Leena rolled her eyes. 

“Lightsaber,” she added, “Today but not before?” 

“We weren’t as outnumbered before,” Ezra hissed, “And I just saved your ass, so can we question my secrecy later, please?” 

Leena ignored the burning ache in her shoulder. “Thanks for that,” she said genuinely. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Ezra said. “You sure you’re okay? You’re bleeding a lot.” 

Leena shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said, “I’ve had worse.” 

He looked at her and smirked a little. “You know what, I totally believe that.” 

They resumed their quiet as they tried to sneak out of the hangar bay, Leena not even fighting it when Ezra took the lead and guarded her. 

“You sure you’re okay?” Ezra asked as Leena lagged behind a little, holding her hand to her shoulder again but not lowering her weapon. 

“Yep,” Leena promised, “Keep going, Bridger.” 

“Sabine should make you some armor,” Ezra said, “I’m sure she would if you asked.” 

Leena didn’t comment and followed as Ezra crouched behind some crates. 

“Good?” he asked, and she wanted to be annoyed at his concern but nodded. 

“Yes,” she said, “Go.” 

He nodded once and started forward, gesturing for her to follow. 

“Ghost incoming,” Sabine’s voice echoed on both of their comms. “Prepare for pick-up,”

“Almost there,” Ezra said into the comm, and waited a few beats before he broke into a run, Leena following him. 

“In position!” Ezra shouted, and Leena shielded her eyes as Zeb shot with rear guns to hit the troopers coming out of the hangar bay toward her and Ezra. Ezra grabbed the wrist of her uninjured arm as the ramp lowered and he pulled her inside, slamming the button to close the ramp quickly, breathing heavy when he finally was able to relax. 

“Get us out of here, Sabine!” he shouted, and braced himself with his hand as Sabine sped the Ghost up and broke the atmosphere. He looked to Leena, who was sitting down on a crate in the cargo hold, out of breath from the adrenaline rush and holding her shoulder. 

“Sabine!” Ezra shouted up the ladder, “Where’s the Med-kit?” 

Sabine’s voice echoed back down with worry. “Who’s hurt?” She shouted. 

“Leena got hit. Where the hell is the med-kit??” he looked through the crates nearby and Sabine appeared only seconds later with the med-kit under her arm. She looked concerned, and Leena felt that annoyance build again. Why did these people care so much? She’d been shot in much more dangerous places than her shoulder before, and figured it out all on her own. Why were they so worried about her? 

It took Leena a moment to notice that she only felt this way because she was pretty sure that she wasn’t worthy of their worry and affection. She’d barely been around two months, she was secretive and not nearly as grateful as she should be to them for how kind they were to her. Why would they be so concerned, they barely trusted her, and she didn’t give them much reason to.

“I’m fine,” she insisted.

“Can you get upstairs?” Sabine asked, “I’d rather be someplace cleaner than the cargo hold to fix that.” 

Leena made a face. “I’ll take care of it,” she said, sitting up straighter. “It’s not that bad.” 

Sabine frowned. “It’s hard to dress your own wound, especially in the shoulder. I’m a good medic, just let me help you.” 

If Leena wasn’t in so much pain, she’d argue, but instead she stood and started up the ladder, and Ezra winced at the bloody handprint that she left on the railing. He gave Sabine a look and she gestured with her head to the cockpit. 

“I plotted our jump. Just get us out of here before the Empire realizes we didn’t make it too far.” she told him, and Ezra nodded, hurrying up the ladder after Leena and running into the cockpit, almost bumping into Kanan.

“Leena’s hurt?” Kanan asked and Ezra nodded. 

“Took a shot to the shoulder. I think she’s okay but she’s also made of steel and doesn’t say anything, so what do I know.” Ezra explained. 

“Sabine’s a good medic. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” 

“Yeah.” Ezra glanced over his shoulder. “I...used my lightsaber. She knows we’re…” Ezra rolled his eyes a little. “Force users.” 

Kanan had recently expressed his dislike of the word “Jedi” and all that came with it, so he insisted on using the “Force User” title instead. And even though Ezra didn’t really see a difference, he let it slide. 

Kanan nodded in understanding. “Fine,” he told Ezra. “Go jump the ship, we’ll talk later.” 

Ezra nodded and hurried into the cockpit and Kanan entered the galley where Sabine and Leena were arguing. 

“Don’t mess it up!” Leena shouted, yanking her leather jacket from Sabine’s hands, “Don’t touch it!” 

“It’s got blood all over it!” Sabine shouted back, “And a giant blaster hole through it!” 

“Don’t touch it, it’s mine!” Leena shouted back. 

“It’s just a jacket!” Sabine argued. “We’ll get you another one!” 

“I don’t want another one! It was my mom’s.” Leena snapped, “Leave it alone!” 

Sabine let go of the damaged jacket in surprise, and opened her mouth to apologize when Kanan stepped into the room, taking his mask off his eyes. Leena balled up the dirty jacket and set it next to her on the booth, and let Sabine go back to dressing her wound, cutting away the shirt underneath, leaving her Leena a sports bra so Sabine could work on her shoulder. 

“You okay, Leena?” Kanan asked and she sighed. 

“I’m fine,” she said, hesitating before she added, “Thank you.” 

He nodded, sitting next to her. “Sabine’s a good medic, just let her fix you up, okay?” 

Leena nodded. “Why…” she sighed. “Why do you care so much?” she asked, “All of you. What does it matter to you if I get hurt or not?” 

Sabine looked up at her. “You’re part of our crew,” Sabine said honestly. “We don’t leave anyone behind, and we do our best not to let anyone get hurt.” 

Leena hissed as Sabine wiped antiseptic on the wound to clean it before starting to stitch it up. 

“You dropped everything to fix a stupid blaster wound,” Leena said, “You’re letting Ezra fly your ship.” 

Ezra flipped on the comm. “I heard that. Jumping to hyperspace.” 

The ship lurched forward as they jumped, and Sabine started to bandage Leena’s shoulder. 

“We’re kind of sticklers for making sure everyone is taken care of,” Kanan said, smiling a little. “And I take it that you haven’t had anyone looking out for you for a while. That changes now.” 

Leena felt warmth grow in her chest and she smiled a little. “That...that would actually be really nice,” she admitted. “Thank you.” 

Sabine left to grab Leena a tank top and helped her put it on, securing her injured arm in a sling before she sat back on her knees. 

“Is the bacta helping?” she asked, and Leena nodded. 

“Yeah,” she said with a little smile. “Thanks, Sabine.” 

Sabine smiled too. “Be careful, okay? I’m just starting to get used to having you around.” 

Leena smirked. She could get used to being around too. 

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leena is the first of several OCs in the Legacy series!


	3. Welcome to the Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leena's officially part of the family, Sabine opens herself to romance, and the family takes a vacation!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a bonus scene that I wrote more for fun than to be part of the story, but it ended up working toward the plot so I'm going to include it as Chapter 3.5 at the end of Chapter 3!

*

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Family

*

It wasn’t long before Leena was part of the family. And soon much more than a friend to Sabine. Sabine wasn’t necessarily good with relationships. She wasn’t an open person, she wasn’t used to letting people in and nurturing a relationship with them. It’d taken her so long to heal after Hera’s death, and she wasn’t ready to let anyone else into her heart to potentially break it. Kanan saw it, and could tell that’s how she felt, and insisted she go for a deeper relationship with Leena anyway. 

Ezra teased Sabine the entire time, saying that she only argued with Leena because she  _ like liked _ her, which led to Sabine giving Ezra a bloody nose that he  _ definitely _ deserved. Sabine didn’t  _ like like _ anyone, certainly not someone who was trying to give her orders. 

Kanan thought it all pretty hilarious, as he could tell that there was a connection between the two girls, and he wished that Hera was there to see Sabine falling for someone, since they never thought it was something that would happen. Sabine was pretty firm in that belief too, and even as she and Leena started to clearly harbor feelings for each other, she refused to act on any of it, even when Leena approached her about it first. So Kanan stepped in to try and get through to a very stubborn Sabine. 

“You deserve to be happy, Bean.” Kanan told her, slouched in his seat in the cockpit. Sabine was playing with his hair, braiding it, and twisting it around in her fingers. “Stop being a soldier for two seconds and let yourself be happy.” 

“I’m perfectly happy,” Sabine insisted, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

Kanan smirked. “Yes, you do. I might be blind, but I’m not stupid. You’re shutting yourself off from exploring a relationship with Leena because you’re scared.”

Sabine tugged on Kanan’s hair, and he grunted at her. 

“No, I’m not.” 

“Bean…”

“Kanan…” she mocked his tone.

“Fine. Keep being stubborn. Reminds me of someone.” 

Sabine smiled a little, undoing the braids in Kanan’s rather long hair and starting new ones.

“Oh yeah?” she asked, “How so?” 

Kanan smiled. “When I first met Hera, she was so serious. Only the cause. Only the rebellion. Only the Ghost. No room for anything else.” 

Sabine bit her lip, continuing to braid his hair. 

“And, like you, she ignored her feelings. Especially when it came to a certain dashing Jedi.” 

Sabine snorted. “Dashing? Really?” 

“Hey,” Kanan smirked. “I was very dashing, once upon a time.” 

“Yeah, maybe like two decades ago,” Sabine teased. “Now look at you.” her voice dropped to a mocking whisper. “So frail.”

Kanan lifted a hand and pushed her back, and she dropped her feet from her perch on the edge of her old seat in the cockpit to catch herself, laughing a little at him. 

“ _ Anyway _ ,” Kanan said, “It took Hera a long time before she could even admit that she had feelings for me.” 

“Oh really?” Sabine didn’t want to think too hard about Hera, even a few years after her death, she still felt a deep ache whenever she was forced to remember her. “And when she did?” 

“She finally admitted that she had feelings for me, and we both lived happily ever after.” Kanan teased. 

Sabine laughed a little before she felt that ache again. “But you didn’t,” Sabine said softly. “You didn’t live happily ever after. What if theoretically, I do open up, and I let myself like Leena, and we start a relationship and something happens to her, like how something happened to Hera? I can’t lose someone like that, Kanan.” Sabine’s voice dropped to a cautious whisper. “I can’t do it again.” 

Sabine tied Kanan’s hair off into a bun with the band around her wrist and sat back in her seat, Kanan turning in his chair to face her. 

“Sabine…” 

“I just don’t think it’s worth the risk. I’m perfectly happy, I’m happy with you, and Ezra, and Leena being part of our crew. I don’t need more than that.” 

“But you want it.” Kanan said gently, putting one foot lightly on Sabine’s chair.

Sabine glanced at Kanan’s worn boot on the seat next to her and shrugged. 

“I don’t know what I want,” she admitted. “I don’t want to get hurt.” 

Kanan sighed, nodded. “I don’t want you to get hurt either.” he agreed. “But if you spend the rest of your days guarding your heart, you’ll never be able to live your life to the fullest. And that’s all I want for you, to live your life to it’s fullest.” 

Sabine smiled a little bit, putting her hand on Kanan’s leg. “Thanks.” 

“You don’t need to start a relationship with Leena if you don’t want to,” Kanan encouraged, “But I just want to make sure that you aren’t holding yourself back out of fear.” 

Sabine looked Kanan over and sighed. She was afraid. She was terrified. She saw what Kanan had went through after Hera died. He still wasn’t okay. He never would be the same without her. And Sabine was so worried that if she  _ did  _ let her guard down and  _ did _ let Leena in that something horrible would happen, because something horrible  _ always happened _ . And losing someone she loved again wasn’t something Sabine thought she could recover from. She hated seeing Kanan struggle to recover, knowing he never would.

“Okay,” she said softly. “Thanks, Kanan.” 

Kanan smiled a little at her, and leaned back in his seat. “So what exactly did you do to my hair?” he asked, feeling the intricate braid that swirled into a bun. 

“Nothing too fancy, don’t worry.” she said with a smirk. “It looks nice.” 

Kanan’s face twisted into a smile. “I feel like you’re lying to me, but I’m going to trust you on this one. If anyone makes fun of me, i’m blaming you.” 

Sabine snorted. “Fine, fine. I’ll take full responsibility.” 

Almost as soon as Kanan went downstairs later that afternoon, Ezra complemented Kanan on his hair, to which Sabine shouted from the cockpit, “THANK YOU!” 

Sabine eventually took Kanan’s advice. Cautiously, she started exploring a relationship with Leena, the beautiful Twi-Lek woman she was slowly falling for. Several years and several adventures later, Sabine learned that Kanan’s words about living life to it’s fullest were right. She admitted she had feelings for her friend, and Leena, with great relief, admitted that she returned them. The rest was history. And Kanan’s stubborn young Mandalorian was all grown up and surprisingly, settling down. 

It brought Kanan a lot of joy that Sabine was so happy. It was all he wanted from her since the day he and Hera picked her up when she was just a hurt little kid, for her to be happy. And she was.

*

“Listen, Leena, we love you. We really do. This isn’t an  _ interrogation _ .” Ezra explained, sitting next to Leena on the bench, putting an arm around her shoulders. 

“It feels like an interrogation,” Leena said, smirking at Ezra, flicking his arm off of her. 

“Ezra…” Kanan sighed, his fingers over the bridge of his nose. Ezra made a face at Kanan, rolling his eyes a little.

“Look,” Ezra continued, putting a hand back on Leena’s shoulder, which she shrugged off, “We know that you and Sabine are….” he looked to Zeb for help, and Zeb shook his head a little in amusement. “Doing….” 

Kanan sighed in exasperation and Leena tried really hard not to burst into laughter. 

“Not doing. Dating? K-kissing..?” Ezra sighed, and Zeb laughed at him. “You’re no help,” Ezra told him, and Zeb shrugged. 

“You’re on your own kid. It’s fun watching you struggle, right Leena?” Zeb teased, and Leena covered her mouth with her hand to hide her amused smirk. 

“We know you and Sabine are a  _ thing _ ,” Ezra insisted, “And this was Kanan’s idea, so don’t tell me I’m interrogating you.” 

Leena looked to Kanan, who had a little smile on his lips. 

“You’re kind of the one leading the interrogation,” Leena said to Ezra, and he pouted a little. 

“Kanan, you talk to her.” Ezra huffed, and Leena smirked, looking to Kanan.

Kanan smiled. “I promise we aren’t interrogating you,” Kanan insisted, “You’re family. And whatever is going on between you and Sabine, we support and love both of you.”

“And it must be something good,” Ezra said with a grin, “I haven’t seen Sabine so happy in…. _ ever _ , really.” 

Leena couldn’t hide her smile anymore. “Yeah, well, I haven’t been so happy in ever either.” 

Zeb leaned back in his seat and smiled at her. “We’re happy for you,” he promised, “But we’re also giving you fair warning that if you hurt Sabine, we’ll have to hurt you.” 

Leena laughed out loud, and Zeb laughed a little too before his expression dropped to seriousness. 

“We aren’t kidding.” 

Leena laughed but nodded, holding her hands up in mock surrender. “I didn’t think you were!” she promised, “I think it’s sweet.” 

“That protection goes for you too,” Kanan added, “Sabine can be...hardheaded,” 

“ _ Very _ hardheaded,” Ezra added. 

“So if she gives  _ you _ any trouble, we just want you to know that we’re all here for you. We want you both to be happy.” 

Leena felt her heart warm with the love of the boys and smiled. “Thank you,” she said honestly. “For everything. You have all been so kind to me, since day one. I’ve never had that.” 

“We’re your family,” Ezra told her. 

“Families take care of each other.” Zeb added. 

“Well, I’m glad to be part of your family,” Leena said seriously. “You all are so  _ nice _ .” 

Ezra smirked. “I mean,  _ I  _ am, and they are too for the most part,” Ezra said, gesturing to Kanan and Zeb. “It’s Sabine who can be an asshole.” 

Leena’s grin was contagious. “Yeah, but she’s  _ my _ asshole.” 

Ezra laughed. “That’s the spirit.” 

*

“Okay. Sabine, Leena, the mission’s yours. It’s an easy scoop job. We need the fuel, and this platform has minimal security now that the Empire is focusing all it’s energy on defeating the Rebellion.” Kanan explained, and Sabine snorted. 

“Kanan...we’re kind of Rebels.” Sabine pointed out, and Kanan sighed. 

“Okay, but are we part of the  _ Rebellion _ ? No. Smartass.” he shook his head at her. 

Leena snickered and elbowed Sabine, who smirked. 

“Can you do it or not?” Kanan asked flatly, and Sabine rolled her eyes. 

“Of course we can.” She winked at Leena, who smiled. 

“When do we leave?” Leena asked, and Kanan gestured with his head toward the docking for the Phantom. 

“Whenever you’re ready. We need fuel.” 

Ezra craned his neck from down the hall. “You’re going without me?” he whined, and Kanan shook his head. 

“ _ You _ need to finish making repairs to this ship, that  _ you broke _ .” Kanan insisted, and Ezra groaned. 

“Fine,” he muttered. “Let the lovebirds have all the fun.” 

Sabine leaned against Leena’s shoulder and grinned at her partner. “Aww, hear that? He thinks this will be fun.” 

“Innocent child.” Leena said with a shake of her head. “Watch this mission go to hell.” 

“Of course it will,” Sabine said with a shrug. “When is anything ever easy for us?”

Sabine was really wishing that things would be easy for once when things did, as expected, go to hell on their supposedly simple mission. 

“Leena, if you don’t answer this because you’re dead, I’m going to kill you.” Sabine snapped into her comm, feeling her stomach churn when she was met with static on the other end. 

“Dammit.” Sabine whispered, feeling panic rise in her chest. She tried to assure herself that Leena was fine, and that their comms were jammed, but that didn’t mean anything was going wrong. 

Sabine activated her jetpack, her blasters drawn as she flew across the chasm to the small landing pad of the supposedly abandoned imperial fueling platform. The Ghost needed fuel, and Kanan got word through one of their contacts about an abandoned fueling station. But, as Sabine probably should’ve guessed, it was not so abandoned. There were still Imperial probes nearby, and it wasn’t long before the Empire sent a small deployment of fighters to end the Rebel disturbance on the station. 

Sabine felt her heart racing as she continued to try and raise Leena on the comm, still met with static. Sabine ignored the panic mounting in the pit of her stomach but forced herself to ignore it as she snuck around the landing pad, avoiding the gaze of the probe droids that were patrolling the platform. She quietly dashed past them, igniting her jetpack and sailing up to the fuel tanks on the top deck, shooting her blasters toward the probes, sending them both crashing down to the platform in smoking remains. 

She pursed her lips as she started to run down the catwalk above the platform connecting it to the main station. 

“Come on, Leena…” Sabine muttered into her comm in her helmet, shooting her blaster behind her at the stormtroopers that were now chasing her down the catwalk. 

“Hey! Stop!” the troopers shouted at her, and Sabine had zero intention of stopping. She cringed as her way off the catwalk was cut off by more stormtroopers, pointing her twin blasters in both directions. 

“This should be easy,” The captain of the stormtrooper squadron said with a smirk. “Fire!” 

Sabine fired first, immediately downing two troopers, igniting the Mandalorian wrist shield to block bolts aimed at her chest. 

“Karabast!” she cursed as a stray blaster bolt struck her back armor, busting one of the thrusters of her jetpack. “My jetpack!”

The stormtroopers closed in, and Sabine glanced down, eyeing her options to escape. She was about to jump from the catwalk when the troopers on the platform started to be shot down one by one. Sabine smiled under her helmet as Leena stood behind them, finishing off the troopers and joining Sabine as she ran toward her and they escaped down the corridor of the station, closing the blast doors behind them. 

“You okay?” Leena asked as they both ran down the hall to the other entrance, the one where they’d parked the Phantom. 

“I’m fine,” Sabine said as they ran. “You didn’t answer your comm.” she said, mock accusingly.

Leena held up the smoking end of her commlink and gave Sabine a little smirk. 

“Sorry babe.” 

Sabine smirked a little under her helmet. 

“As long as you’re okay, I don’t care about your commlink. I can fix it.” 

Leena grinned as they slowed their run and opened the doors to the back platform of the station. There were no troopers, which was the best part, and Leena pointed with her blaster to the fuel canisters she’d already secured onto the back of the Phantom. 

Sabine sighed lovingly. “I love you,” she said and Leena shoved her shoulder lightly. 

“Come on, let’s go home.” 

Sabine started the Phantom up and plotted their jump to meet back up with the Ghost, Leena sitting in the turret gun in case the Imperial shuttle above the small moon that housed the fueling station tried to give them any problems. They managed to get away without any real struggle, which was a great relief. 

Sabine tossed her helmet onto the seat behind her in the cockpit, leaning back in the seat, smiling as Leena pulled off her combat gloves and tactical belt, tossing them next to Sabine’s helmet. She leaned over and pressed a little kiss to Sabine’s temple and sat down next to her in the co-pilot’s seat. 

“Success!” Leena said and Sabine grinned. “And only minor confrontation!” 

“The best type of confrontation!” Sabine laughed. 

Leena kicked her boots onto the edge of the dash, earning her a mock-glare from Sabine, listening as Sabine called Kanan to tell him they were successful and on their way back to rendezvous. Leena smiled at Kanan’s sarcastic quips back and forth with Sabine, laughing out loud when Ezra popped in to demand that Sabine and Leena return as soon as possible because he was tired of being trapped alone with Zeb and Kanan in the Ghost for so long. 

Sabine reached over to Leena’s seat and took her hand lovingly, smiling as they jumped to hyperspace. 

“That was fun,” Leena remarked, and Sabine smirked. 

“You know what? It kinda was.” she squeezed Leena’s hand. “We make a good team.” 

Leena leaned over and kissed Sabine’s cheek, Sabine quickly turning her face to meet Leena’s lips, surprising her. Leena smiled through the kiss, her purple skin darkening with a blush that ran up her neck. 

“Yeah,” Leena said with a grin, “We do.” 

*

*

Chapter 3.5: Honeymoon!

*

When Sabine and Leena got married, it was pretty spontaneously. They weren’t exactly planning on it when they landed on Abellone in the Outer Rim, but their entire lives were built around unexpected things. When a crude shop-keeper refused to serve Leena and Sabine for being a couple, they decided to make a point. They got married that day in the galactic courthouse on Abellone, where they legally became partners for life. When they got back to the Ghost, Kanan, Ezra and Zeb were shocked by their news but thrilled for them anyway. 

Ezra insisted that they celebrate, since Sabine and Leena didn’t invite them to the ceremony (which Leena promised wasn’t personal, and wasn’t so much a ceremony as it was a five minute decision made in a judge’s office in a rural village, where the judge was bound by galactic law to marry them) and once they finished making repairs on the Phantom, they jumped to a tourist-run beach planet for a week of  _ much needed _ vacation. 

“Have you never been on a vacation before?” Sabine asked, and Leena shrugged. 

“Have  _ you _ ?” she asked.

Sabine paused a moment, looking around at her family. “Have any of us?” 

“Not in a very,  _ very _ long time,” Kanan admitted. “Way longer than I’d like.” 

Ezra shrugged. “I don’t think vacations are  _ possible _ ,” he said, “I’d like to see us go a week without interfering in any sort of danger, no stormtroopers, no imperials, no pirates or injustice and just...I don’t know, sleeping? Relaxing?” 

Zeb laughed. “Any day I get to sleep in is a vacation for me.”

“You know what?” Sabine grinned, “Challenge accepted Ezra. Let’s go a week without doing  _ anything _ . No Imperials, no danger, just us, the beach, and a  _ lot  _ of sleep.” 

Kanan smirked. “Yeah, we’ll see just how long that lasts.” 

“Come onnnn,” Leena teased, elbowing Kanan in the ribs. “It’ll be fun!” 

“Will it?” Kanan asked skeptically, and Ezra laughed, putting a hand on Kanan’s shoulder. 

“Life’s what you make it, old man!” He said with a smirk, “Come on, let’s have a vacation!” 

Kanan reluctantly smiled. “Alright, let’s attempt a vacation.” 

“There we go!” Sabine laughed, plotting their descent to the beach resort planet. 

When they checked into the resort, Sabine was pleasantly surprised by how relaxed she already felt. Other than Ezra bugging her about getting his own room, and Zeb insisting that he didn’t want to do any tacky tourist things, Sabine already felt pretty calm. The resort was safe guarded by huge shields so the weather would stay perfect and the guests would be left to relax in peace. No threat of the Empire, no threat of the Rebellion, no threat of anything in between. Just sun, sand, ocean and family. The Ghost remained in a locked and guarded hangar bay, and for the first time in maybe all of their lives, the crew left their weapons on the ship. 

_ Most _ of their weapons. Sabine insisted that no Mandalorian would ever be caught without  _ some _ sort of weapon, but she promised she wouldn’t use any of them.

Relaxation was weird, because no one on the Ghost had ever done it before. It felt  _ wrong _ to be off guard and not actively searching out danger and tyranny, and it felt even stranger to be in a place where there really  _ wasn’t _ any danger or tyranny happening. The employees at the resort were genuinely happy to be there, the company itself had no political affiliation (and Ezra  _ checked _ ), and all the guests were just like the crew were, just wanting to blend in and relax. 

So they did. They blended in. They relaxed as much as physically possible. They forgot for a while all the hurt and pain they endured on a daily basis, they forgot about their low fuel tanks and low credit stash, and forgot for a while that they were considered terrorists on a bunch of systems. They were just  _ people _ for once. Just a regular family. On vacation.

Sometime over the course of the week-long vacation, Sabine realized just how much she liked being a regular family. She’d been raised in a family of warriors, and then her found-family were freedom fighters. She’d been fighting since the day she was old enough to hold a blaster, and even though it felt strange, it was really  _ really _ nice to not need to fight. They had _ fun _ together, Sabine and Leena buried Ezra in the sand, Zeb taught Ezra how to surf (which was rather amusing to watch both of them attempt to do), and Kanan got to tan and relax. Sabine considered what her life would be like if they were like this all the time. If they didn’t have missions lined up when the trip was over. If they could just stay somewhere, instead of fleeing systems whenever the Empire showed up. If they slowed down, stayed put, and actually put down roots. Would they be happy?

“Look,” Leena laughed as she pointed at Ezra, running down the beach, chased by a group of little kids. “He’s a natural with kids.” 

Sabine laughed too. “I can verify that almost all interactions Ezra has had with children end like that.” she said with a nod. 

“It’s kinda cute though,” Leena admitted. “He’s been playing with them for hours.” 

Sabine smirked. “He’s got the gift to connect with smaller beings, or something.” 

“Do you?” Leena asked, her hand intertwined with Sabine’s as they walked down the beach, the sun starting to set on the horizon. 

“Do I what?” 

“Have the gift to connect with smaller beings?” Leena asked, and Sabine snorted. 

“I’ve never been around kids long enough to even attempt,” Sabine said.  “And honestly, I feel like I wouldn’t be very good at it at all.” she hesitated. “Why? Do you?” 

Leena shrugged. “I love kids.” she admitted. “I….” she shrugged. “I think kids are great.” 

Sabine slowed her walk a little and looked to her  _ wife _ curiously. “Do you... _ want _ kids?” Sabine asked, and Leena stopped walking, looking Sabine over. She hesitated her answer. 

“I already have a family.” she said honestly. “It doesn’t matter if I want kids or not, having them isn’t very realistic in our line of work.” 

Sabine looked over Leena’s shoulder at Ezra tripping in the sand and falling flat on his face, the group of kids promptly throwing more sand on top of him, and she smirked a little. 

“I mean, it could be. If you wanted it to be.” Sabine said, and Leena didn’t even hide the surprise in her expression. 

“No it can’t, Sabine.” Leena laughed a little. “We’re smugglers, I’m a former extremist. We’re all basically terrorists, according to the Empire. Bringing kids into that sounds like a terrible idea.” 

“What if we...I don’t know... What if we slowed down, played it safer?” 

Leena smiled, squeezing Sabine’s hand in hers. “I love you,” she said with a little smile. “And  _ you _ are enough for me. I don’t need a baby to be happy.” 

“If you want one, I don’t want it to be  _ me _ that’s holding you back from it,” Sabine said softer. “I want you to have everything you want.” 

Leena kissed Sabine’s lips lightly. “I do have everything I want,” she said seriously. “I have you. And our family. That’s all I need, really.” 

“You’re sure?” Sabine asked, wrapping an arm around Leena’s waist. 

“Of course.” Leena said confidently, but when Sabine looked up and met her eyes, she felt a pang when she saw a sad longing flash in Leena’s eyes for a second before it disappeared. 

Sabine took Leena’s hand again as they continued their walk down the beach, adding to the kids kicking sand onto Ezra, despite his protests and cries for help. 

When they eventually went back to their resort, Sabine still thought over what Leena had said about having kids. She never really considered it, but she also never considered she’d find someone that she would marry. She didn’t think she’d make a very good mom. Being maternal wasn’t exactly in her nature, her own mother wasn’t maternal, which was probably why she wasn’t either. The only real nurturing mother figure she had in her life was Hera, and she’d been gone for a long time now. 

Distantly, Sabine wondered that if things had been different, if Hera and Kanan would’ve had kids of their own. Hera was clearly a natural with children, and took care of everyone, even when they didn’t want to be taken care of. She would’ve made a great mom. She  _ was _ a great mom. If Hera were still alive, Sabine probably would have less hesitation at the thought of being a parent. Hera was the best example, and had all the answers when Sabine was lost or confused. So now, she turned to the closest thing to Hera she had, and that was Kanan. 

Sabine crossed her arms a little as she sat down next to Kanan at the hotel bar, ordering herself a drink and leaning against Kanan’s shoulder. 

“What’s on your mind, Bean?” Kanan asked, and Sabine shrugged. 

“Too much, since we’re supposed to be vacationing.” Sabine admitted, taking a sip of the fruity drink in front of her, wincing at how sweet it was. 

“Talk to me,” Kanan offered, and Sabine smiled a little at him, always there for her when she needed him.

“Do you think I’d make a good mom?” Sabine asked, and Kanan almost choked on his drink with surprise. 

“Where did that come from?” he laughed, and Sabine blushed a little. 

“Nevermind, it’s dumb.” 

Kanan shook his head, putting a hand on Sabine’s shoulder. “No, it’s not. I was just surprised.” he smiled a little. “I think you’d make a great mom, Sabine.” 

“Really?” She snorted. “Don’t patronize me.” 

“I mean it,” Kanan said, “You have a big heart, and you’ll protect the people you care about until your dying breath. I just didn’t realize you even  _ wanted _ kids.” 

“I don’t,” Sabine said, shaking her head a little. “Or, I didn’t think I did. Leena and I were talking, and she sounded like she wanted to have kids, and-”

“Leena wants a kid?” Kanan shook his head in amusement. “Didn’t see that one coming either.” 

“I know.” Sabine shrugged. “It just got me thinking. She says that it’s not realistic to have a baby with our lifestyles, and I guess she’s right, but I don’t want to stop her from having something she wants, you know?” 

Kanan smiled, putting his hand on Sabine’s arm. 

“See?” he said, “You care about your loved ones deeply. I’d talk things through with Leena, if you two want to have a baby, now, later, way in the future, or never, we’ll support you. All of us. And you know that we’d all put protecting a baby at the highest priority.” 

Sabine nodded. “Yeah, I know.” She smiled a little. “Thanks Kanan.”

“Whatever you decide, we’re here for you.” he promised. “Talk to Leena about it.” 

Sabine smiled. “I will.” She thought a little bit, before looking to Kanan curiously. 

“Did Hera ever want to have a baby?” she asked, and Kanan smiled a sad smile. 

“No,” he said simply, “At least, not that she told me. The Rebellion was her baby. And then you and Ezra became our babies. We didn’t need more than that.” 

“Did  _ you _ want a baby?” she asked, and Kanan laughed a little. 

“I wouldn’t have said no if we had one,” he admitted after a second. “But, like Leena, I didn’t think it was realistic. Hera and I never really discussed it. We had a mutual agreement that we were happy enough.” 

Sabine smiled a little at the thought of Kanan with a baby. He was already a great father to kids that weren’t even his, she couldn’t imagine how he’d be with a little kid. 

“I’m happy enough too,” Sabine agreed, “This is stupid. I don’t know why I’m even this worried about it.” 

Kanan shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “If it’s bothering you, you should discuss it with your wife. That’s what I did whenever I was worried about something.” 

Sabine smiled. “You’re right,” she pushed his shoulder lightly. “As usual. I’ll talk with her about it.” She clinked her glass against Kanan’s. “Thanks, Kanan.” 

“You know I’m always here for you,” he told her genuinely, “No matter what.” 

Sabine smirked. “What would I do without you?” she laughed, and Kanan shrugged. 

“Let’s not even imagine.” He teased. 

*


	4. The Family Gets Bigger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Ghost Family is growing...

*

Sabine smiled at Leena, running her gentle hand over his wife’s purple lekku, putting her other hand on her belly, which was a nice round bump now. 

“A girl,” Sabine laughed a little bit, unable to contain the smile on her face. She never thought she’d want children, but Leena did, and Sabine wanted nothing more than for Leena to be happy. And now that she was pregnant, Sabine was insanely excited to be a mom. Nervous, because her experiences with her own mom weren’t so great, but thrilled that she’d be able to pass on things that Hera had taught her, to her own daughter. “We’re having a girl.” Sabine’s voice squealed a little with excitement, and Leena laughed. 

“She’s going to be beautiful.” Leena said lovingly. 

“Like her Mama,” Sabine said, pressing a kiss to Leena’s forehead. “Do you want to keep it a secret?” she asked, and Leena giggled a little. 

“You can tell Kanan,” she said, shoving her wife’s shoulder. “He’ll be thrilled.” 

Sabine grinned. “We should talk about baby names,” she mentioned, and Leena smirked. 

“After you tell Kanan we’re having a girl,” Leena added, and Sabine nodded. 

Sabine took Leena’s slender hand in hers and the couple walked out of the cockpit to the galley, where Kanan sat with his feet up on the table, chatting with Ezra, who was leaning back in the chair a little too far, and Sabine instinctively kicked it out from under him when she entered the room, sending him crashing backwards and howling at her in protest. Kanan laughed, and Sabine smiled. She loved Kanan’s laugh. He laughed less these days, which is why she tried to ensure that he laughed as much as possible. 

“Ah, Sabine and Leena are back,” Kanan said with a grin as Ezra grumbled and picked himself up from the chair. “How was the med-center?” 

Sabine put a gentle hand around Leena’s waist and pulled her closer. 

“Great,” Leena said with a nod. “Everything’s going as planned, perfectly healthy.” 

“That’s what I like to hear.” Kanan said with an approving nod, kicking his feet down from the table. 

“Did you find out what you’re having?” Ezra asked, looking to Zeb on the other side of the room eagerly. They had a baby betting pool and Ezra intended to win, insisting that he could tell anyway, since he had  _ The Force _ . 

Sabine looked at Leena, and they both smiled. 

“Come onnnn,” Zeb edged them on, “Tell us!” 

Kanan crossed his arms, raising one eyebrow in curiosity. “Well?” 

Sabine led Leena to sit at the table next to Kanan, and Sabine sat down between them. 

“We’re having….” 

Ezra and Zeb both leaned in, and Kanan started to smile. 

“A girl!” Leena finished for her wife.

“I KNEW IT.” Ezra shouted, pointing across the room at Zeb who shook his head. 

“Ah, Karabast.” 

“YOU OWE ME TWENTY CREDITS.” Ezra demanded, laughing proudly at his victory. 

Sabine watched Kanan’s face as a warm, loving smile came over his whole face, lighting up his features. 

“A girl?” he asked, and Sabine smiled. 

“Yeah,” she said, “A girl.” 

Kanan’s smile widened and he laughed a little, running a hand over his beard. He quickly stood and pulled Sabine and Leena into a warm hug. 

“Congratulations,” He told the girls. “And we’ll finally be evenly matched here on the good ole’ Ghost.” 

Sabine laughed. “Hey, you’re right!” she laughed, “Three guys, three girls!” 

Kanan found Sabine’s hands and pulled her into a tight hug. 

“I’m proud of you, Bean.” he told her, “You’re going to be an amazing mother.” he reached his hand out and found Leena’s shoulder. “So will you, Leena.” 

“Thanks, Kanan.” Sabine said with a smile, “That means a lot.” 

Kanan nodded and let Sabine go, turning toward Ezra and Zeb who were arguing over the baby bet. 

“Well, I’m still all in for the due-date,” Kanan told them, “Hold that pot until she’s born, guys.” 

Sabine and Leena both laughed. They shared a knowing look, both sitting back down and watching the boys argue. 

“I can’t wait for her to meet them,” Leena said with a smirk. 

“Me neither,” Sabine agreed. “She’ll love them.” 

“And we’ll love her.” 

*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one is really short, but the next 2 chapters are pretty short until they get longer again!!


	5. Namesake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sabine and Leena pick a name for their newest crew member!

“I think it’s perfect,” Leena said lovingly, leaning into Sabine’s shoulder gently. “I really do.” 

“Me too,” Sabine said with a nod. “I...I can’t imagine any other name for her.” 

Leena smiled. “Then you should go ask Kanan about it. He’s going to say yes, babe.” 

Sabine looked a little uncomfortable. “I’m afraid it’s crossing a line. I don’t want to hurt him.” 

Leena pecked a kiss to Sabine’s cheek. “Love, he’s going to think it’s perfect. I’ve never met Hera,” she said, putting her hand on Sabine’s. “But I can see how much she means to you, and to everyone. Naming our daughter after her will be a beautiful way to honor her, and her legacy.” 

Sabine smiled a little sadly. “I think you’re right,” she said honestly. 

“So go on.” Leena shoved her shoulder a little. “Talk to him.” 

“Come with me?” Sabine asked, and Leena smiled at her. 

“I think this is between you and Kanan,” Leena admitted. “It’s okay.” 

Sabine huffs a sigh, nodding. “Okay. Thanks for ditching.” 

Leena rolls her eyes. “Oh please.” 

Sabine bites her lip as she hesitates outside of Kanan’s room, which is technically Hera’s old room. When Leena first moved into the Ghost they gave his old room to her, since Sabine was adamant about not sharing a room with  _ anyone _ , especially her, and Kanan moved into Hera’s old room. But as Leena and Sabine got closer, that stopped being an issue, and the room remained empty. Now they were slowly turning it into a nursery. 

Sabine ran her hand across the graffiti style lettering on the door that read Hera’s name in Basic, something she’d painted  _ decades ago _ , when she first started to explore her artistic abilities. The design was worn and chipped now, just years of wear and tear showing, but it wouldn’t be the Ghost without it. She missed painting. It’d been awhile since she really got to play around with it. Maybe she’d pick it back up to design the nursery. 

“Kanan?” Sabine knocked on the door before it swiped open and smiled to see him listening intently to the holonews. It’d only been about a month since the second Death Star was destroyed, and Kanan was practically glued to the news. The Empire had fallen, and the Rebellion, now an extremely formidable and organized group was working to instill a New Republic to take it’s place, but it wasn’t easy going. Sabine kept on top of the politics too, and more often than not, it was the topic of conversation on the Ghost. 

“Hmm?” Kanan was distracted and Sabine waited for the broadcast to end, sitting on top of the desk he was sitting in front of. “What’s up?” 

Sabine smiled. “Can we talk?” she asked, and Kanan nodded, flicking the holo projector off. 

“Of course. What’s on your mind?” Kanan leaned back in his chair and Sabine smiled at him. 

“Uh..” she hesitated. “Leena and I were talking about baby names.” 

Kanan grinned. “Were you now? And you’re going to give me a hint?” he asked, as Leena and Sabine were pretty secretive about what they’d name their daughter. They’d been talking about baby names pretty much since they found out they’d be having a girl, and now she was going to be due in a little over 6 weeks. 

“More like ask permission,” Sabine admitted, and Kanan looked surprised, raising his eyebrows. 

“Permission?” he laughed. “Bean, she’s your kid, not mine.” 

“I know,” Sabine said, shaking her head at how silly it sounded. “But....I want your approval, okay?” 

Kanan shrugged. “You got it. I won’t let you name her anything dumb, I promise.” he smirked. “So I’m telling you right now not to use any of Ezra’s suggestions.” 

Sabine laughed. “Oh, no. Never. When do I  _ ever _ listen to Ezra?” 

“So what are you thinking about?” Kanan asked, “And did we ever decide on the last name thing?” 

“Oh, that’s easy.” she said simply. “My last name. Carrying on that clan name.” 

“Perfect.” Kanan smiled, a real genuine smile. Sabine had missed that. And ever since she and Leena started talking about having kids, she noticed that smile starting to come back. She couldn’t wait until the baby was born, she could only imagine how big Kanan’s smile would be. “And the first name?” 

Sabine hesitated, and Kanan put a hand on her knee. “Come on, don’t leave me hanging.” 

She bit her lip and took a breath before speaking. “We were...we were thinking about naming her Hera,” she said, wincing as she saw the surprise and emotion fill Kanan’s expression. “Only if it’s alright with you.” 

Kanan needed a minute to get his emotions under control. 

“Sabine...” he said softly, tears filling his eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” Sabine said quickly, noticing that Kanan was starting to cry. “It’s stepping on a boundary, I shouldn’t have even asked-”

“It’s perfect.” he wiped at his eyes. “I love it.” 

“You do?” Sabine sounded surprised. “It’s okay if you don’t.” 

“No,” Kanan insisted, sniffing back tears. “I love it. It’s perfect.” he smiled again, shaking his head at himself for getting emotional. “Why would you want my permission for that?” 

“She…” Sabine looked around Kanan’s... _ Hera’s _ room, and sighed. “You know.” 

He nodded. “Well, you have my permission.” he said. “It’s about time there’s a Hera back on this Ghost.” 

Sabine smiled and then suddenly felt choked up by Kanan’s words. He heard her breath catch in her throat and reached out to her, and she fell into his arms, hugging him tight. 

“She’s going to be perfect,” Kanan whispered, hugging Sabine close. “Hera would be so proud.” 

Sabine didn’t need to hear that, and couldn’t keep the tears at bay, pressing her face into Kanan’s shoulder. 

“Thank you,” Sabine whispered shakily, “For everything.” 

Kanan smiled. “No. Thank  _ you _ . I love the name. Thank you for asking me.” 

Sabine nodded, not letting him go, and not planning to anytime soon. And Kanan didn’t want her to.


	6. Hera

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the galaxy, baby Hera!!!

*

“It’s happening!” Ezra Bridger shouted as he ran down the hall of the Ghost, slamming his hand onto the panel to open the door to (Hera’s) Kanan’s room. “Kanan!!!” 

Kanan groaned as he tossed the covers off the bed and stood to his bare feet, throwing his hair into his signature ponytail. 

“For real this time?” Kanan demanded, “If this is another false alarm Ezra, I swear…” 

“No, no for real!” Ezra insisted, “Sabine’s plotting us to the nearest med-center!” 

Kanan couldn’t hide his grin as he followed Ezra down the hall to the living area, where Leena was lying extremely uncomfortably on the worn plush of the bench behind the dejarik table. Zeb was in the galley making something for everyone to eat, and Leena shouted to him to stop cooking or she was definitely going to throw up. 

“How you doing Leena?” Kanan asked, kneeling next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was sweaty and breathing heavily, her teeth clenched with pain. 

“I’d be much better if Sabine would get us to the kriffing medcenter,” she shouted, and Sabine shouted back, “I’m working on it!!” 

“Hang in there,” Kanan encouraged, “She’s going as fast as she can, I’m sure.” 

“I am!” 

Kanan kept his hand comfortingly on Leena’s shoulder. “Do you need anything?” he asked, and she shook her head, fists balled with suffering. 

“Whiskey?” she asked, and Kanan laughed. 

“After.” he told her. He turned as Sabine hurried in, Ezra now at the ship’s controls as they jumped to hyperspace. 

“You okay babe?” Sabine asked, running into the galley to grab a wet washcloth for Leena’s sweaty forehead.

“No,” Leena snapped, throwing the cloth back at her wife. “I am not!” 

Kanan smiled a little. “Deep breaths,” he told her, and Leena pushed both him and Sabine back. 

“Augghhhhhh,” she cried, holding her big belly as she screamed. “This is terrible!” She dug her nails into the worn leather of the couch. 

Sabine smirked a little. “Come on,” she teased, “You’re tough!” 

Leena shot a deadly glare at her wife and Sabine figured that if looks could kill, she’d certainly be dead. 

“Don’t tease her,” Kanan admonished, “Being in labor is nothing to laugh at.” 

Sabine grinned, kissing Leena’s forehead, earning her another shove away. She laughed, putting a hand on Kanan’s shoulder while they stayed with Leena, even though she didn’t want the attention. 

“Okay!” Ezra shouted as the ship came out of hyperspace only two clicks away from the med-facility, “What’s the plan Sabine?” 

Sabine left Kanan with Leena while she hurried back to the cockpit to land the ship near the emergency ward so she could check Leena in with the med-droid on call and get her to labor and delivery. 

Kanan put a hand on Sabine’s shoulders as she left, Ezra helping Leena get up from where she was lying down and supporting her weight down the ramp of the Ghost to the entrance of the med-center. 

“We’ll meet you inside, okay?” Kanan encouraged, “Go on.” 

Sabine smiled, putting her hand on Kanan’s for a second. “Thanks,” she said, “See you soon.” she jogged forward to take Leena from Ezra and instructed Ezra where to park the Ghost while they went inside. 

Having only been in labor for a few hours, Leena was positive that she was ready to give birth any second. But the med droid insisted it could be several _ more _ hours before the baby was ready, which made both Leena and Sabine incredibly anxious. 

“I want her now,” Leena whined, exhausted, in pain, and extremely uncomfortable to be in the hospital. “I want her  _ out _ now.” 

“I know,” Sabine said with a nod. “Soon, love. Hang on.” 

Though Leena wasn’t in the mood to say so, she adored how gentle Sabine had been the last few months of her pregnancy. Especially since Leena had been much more cranky and volatile than usual. Sabine was understanding and kind, and Leena was extremely grateful and only more in love with her for it. She internally laughed at how out of character it was for Sabine to be gentle about anything, but knew that their daughter was going to be a soft spot for both of them. 

Leena groaned as another contraction hit, squeezing Sabine’s hand so tight that she worried she might bruise it, but Sabine didn’t waver. 

“Breathe,” Sabine instructed and Leena did, but only because she realized that she hadn’t been breathing. “I’m right here.” 

Leena nodded, sweat dripping down her face. “Thanks,” she said, the pain subsiding a bit. She looked to Sabine. “Love you.” 

Sabine smiled. “Love you too.” 

*

Kanan smirked as he listened to Ezra pacing back and forth across the med-center waiting room. 

“Will you sit down?” 

Ezra snorted at him. “I’m surprised you’re not the one pacing, Kanan. Aren’t you nervous?” 

Kanan shrugged, leaning back in his seat. “I’m excited to meet the baby, but I’m not nervous. Leena’s tough, the med-staff is good, everything will be fine.” 

“You’re stressing  _ me _ out kid,” Zeb snapped, “Sit the kriff down.” 

Ezra groaned. “Why can’t we go in?” he asked, for the third or fourth time in the couple of hours that they’d been waiting. 

“Because it’s first of kin only,” Kanan said flatly, “And technically speaking, none of us are related.” 

Zeb rolled his eyes as Ezra paced back and forth again. He took a sip of his caf. It was too early for Ezra to be this wired, caffeine free.

Ezra groaned again. “This is taking foreverrrrr.” 

Kanan shook his head. “Patience, young padawan. Nature takes time.” 

Ezra plopped down in the seat between Zeb and Kanan and shoved Kanan’s shoulder. Kanan shoved back, raising an eyebrow. 

“So you’re not even the  _ teeniest _ bit anxious to meet the baby?” Ezra asked, and Kanan smirked. 

“Of course I am,” he said, “But I, unlike you, have  _ patience _ .” 

Ezra bounced his legs. “Patience is taking too long!” 

Zeb laughed despite how annoying Ezra was being.

Before Kanan could reply, Ezra jumped to his feet when Sabine opened the door to the waiting room, a silly grin on her face. Ezra reached over to grab Kanan’s hand and he stood, smile spreading across his lips. 

“Well??” Ezra asked, and Sabine laughed, tears in her eyes. 

“Leena and Hera are both perfect,” she said, choking on emotion at saying her daughter’s name out loud for the first time. 

“Hera?” Ezra’s voice cracked a little. Sabine and Leena had shared their name choice with Kanan only, keeping it a surprise for the rest of the family. 

“Congratulations, Sabine.” Zeb said, grin on his face too. 

“Can we come in?” Ezra asked, and Sabine nodded. 

“Yeah, sure.” she was bombarded by hugs from all of them before they even got into the hallway to the med-center room that Leena was in. 

“I love the name,” Kanan said, a knowing smile on his face. Sabine smiled too, squeezing Kanan’s arm as he hugged her, and then she led them all down the hallway to Leena’s room.

Ezra shoved Zeb’s shoulder jokingly. “Careful Zeb, you don’t want to scare the baby.” 

The Lasat bared his teeth at Ezra, making him laugh. “With a name like Hera, I don’t think she’ll scare easily.” 

Sabine beamed with pride as she opened the door to the room and Leena waved at her family, the tiny light-blue skinned baby swaddled in her arms. The tiny baby wailed with cries, Leena instinctively rocking her gently to try and calm her. 

“Oh, Zeb’s here, scared the baby.” Ezra quipped, and Zeb lightly hit the back of Ezra’s head. 

“Shut up, Ezra.” Leena said with a laugh. 

“How are you feeling?” Kanan asked Leena, and she smiled. 

“Great,” Leena said honestly. “Really great.” 

Sabine proudly took the baby from Leena’s arms, kissing baby Hera’s forehead even as she cried. She gently stroked the infant twi-lek’s little lekku. 

“Good,” Kanan said, his hand lovingly on Leena’s shoulder. 

“You want to hold her?” Sabine offered and Ezra immediately nodded. 

“Can I?” he asked, and Sabine looked to Leena for permission. 

“If you drop her, I’ll murder you.” Leena told Ezra, and he laughed, knowing she was joking, but sat down in a chair next to the bed anyway as Sabine placed the still-crying baby in his arms. 

“Hey little Hera,” Ezra cooed, silly grin on his face as he gently cradled the newborn, rocking her to try and calm her down. He made a face at her but the baby just continued to cry, and Ezra looked to Zeb. 

“It’s you, buddy. I’m tellin’ ya.” 

Zeb rolled his eyes and Sabine took the baby back from Ezra, offering her to Zeb. 

“Ah…” Zeb looked a little uncomfortable, since the baby was still wailing and whether he wanted to admit it or not, Ezra might be right about him scaring the tiny baby. 

“Come on,” Leena teased from where she observed on the bed. “She’ll fit right in your hand.” 

Zeb chuckled a little bit but conceded, taking the tiny baby in his large but gentle hands, holding her to his chest. The baby immediately stopped crying, and Zeb gave Ezra the smuggest look he could manage without laughing out loud and scaring the now-quiet infant. 

“Well how about that?” Kanan remarked, and Ezra huffed, crossing his arms as he leaned back in the seat. 

“She’s so…” Zeb smirked. “Small.” 

Leena nodded. “Yeah, babies typically are.” 

“I haven’t seen a baby in….” Zeb shook his head, baby Hera still cradled in his hands. “Who knows how long.” 

Sabine grinned, watching as Zeb’s hand gently cradled the baby to his chest, his large thumb gently rubbing across Hera’s tiny back. 

“She’s perfect,” Zeb said softly, gently handing the now sleeping baby back to Sabine, who cradled her in her arms. 

“Thank you,” Sabine said, smiling to Leena. “She is absolutely perfect.” she agreed. 

“Do I get a turn?” Kanan asked, and Sabine smiled, shifting so the baby rested in one arm as she guided Kanan’s arms to take her from her, wrapping both arms lovingly around the tiny bundle. 

Kanan smiled, feeling the baby’s face with gentle finger tips to get a mental image of her. Sabine watched his face as he was overcome with emotion, tears filling his sightless eyes. Sabine smiled, looking to Leena, who smiled too. The amount of joy in the room was contagious, Ezra grinning but refraining from making fun of Kanan for getting emotional, since the whole room was pretty charged with feelings. Love, family, and more than anything hope. Hope for the future. 

*


End file.
